Following two recent fundraising events, The Royal Oak in Saundersfoot has now raised a grand total of £19,479 for two charities - Velindre Cancer Center and Macmillan Cancer Charity.

Under new management since March 2021, the owners of the pub pledged to spend the rest of the year raising as much money as possible for UK charities following the pandemic.

In August, the pub hosted a fundraising Bank Holiday weekend for Velindre Cancer Center which raised a staggering £11,040, which featured live music acts that generously offered their services free of charge, and donated a series of vouchers for food and drinks as raffle prizes.

Chris Williams, manager of The Royal Oak commented: “The support from the Saundersfoot community and town visitors has been immense.

“What started as a small concept to raise a few hundred pounds for charities close to our hearts has absolutely taken off and we couldn’t be prouder of our team and the people around us.”

Friends of the pub joined the fun-packed weekend with collection buckets and sold raffle tickets, and many local businesses donated via JustGiving.

Last week, British and Irish Lions star Josh Navidi and fellow Welsh international Tom Shanklin, joined the team at The Royal Oak for a Macmillan Coffee Morning, raising an incredible £8,455.

The Welsh rugby stars supported the effort and served coffee and cakes to over 140 people.

Tom said: “I was thrilled to return to my roots and support The Royal Oak with their fundraiser for Macmillan. It was a great morning, tremendous turnout and I’m pleased to have helped raise funds for such a worthy cause.”

Josh, who is set to miss the autumn internationals and SIx Nations following shoulder surgery, commented, “The Royal Oak is a superb pub, the effort everyone has put into these events has been remarkable.

“I hear there’s already another event on the horizon and wish the team every success with future fundraising efforts.”

Whilst there will be no 2022 Saundersfoot New Year’s Day Swim, the Welsh rugby stars were still keen to show their support for the event during their trip to the seaside village, by putting promoting the NYDS?sponsored shirts.

The Saundersfoot NYDS will return in 2023.